Medical school students shun primary care as demand rises

More than three-quarters of U.S. medical students continue to shun primary care for higher-paying specialties, setting the stage for a shortage of doctors as the population ages and health care expands, a study found. Among medical residents who aren't planning a career in surgery or pediatrics, 22 percent said they expect to go into internal medicine or primary care with the rest planning on fields like cardiology or dermatology, a study published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association found. About 20 to 25 percent of students have chosen primary care in the past 10 years, down from about 50 percent in the early 1990s, said Colin West, co-author of the study.